Golf club



April 1939- J. J. HOWARD 2,155,830

GOLF CLUB Filed Sept. 24, 1938 V INVENTOR. L/Ofl/V HOW/4P0 ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 25, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to golf clubs, and more specifically to putters with adjustable heads.

The object is to devise a simple construction of such a golf club, having improved means per- 5 mitting at once angular as well as bodily adjustment of the head relative to the stem.

Another object is to devise improved adjustable weight balance arrangement for the head;

Still another object is to design an improved simple and secure and rugged universally adjustable connection between the head and the stem. Still another object is to have the head readily adjustable for right or left handed use of the club.

These objects are attained respectively: by providing an adjustably flxable articulated joint directly connecting the head and the stem and adjustably flxable in a predetermined plane, which articulated joint moreover is bodily shiftable, that is to say, slidably adjustable along the head and fixable in any thus adjusted position;

furthermore by providing similarly adjustable weight bodies upon the head on either or both sides of the articulated joint; and further by providing a universally adjustable joint between head and stem, to permit adjustment in two distinct planes perpendicular to one another.

According to one feature an undercut groove is provided in the side of the head, in which the 80 stem is fixably and adjustably anchored for bodily as well as angular adjustment.

According, to another feature, double articulation is provided between the head and the stem,

allowing for universally fixable adjustment of the stem relative to the head in two planes perpendicular to one another, with the aid of a double eye member interposed between the head and the stem.

Still another feature relates to the head per se as an article, which head is preferably of angular or L-shaped cross-section and has a horizontally extending undercut through-going laterally disposed groove in the upstanding portion of the L-shaped head, in other words, an open ended groove that extends laterally from end to end of the head. In a preferred, embodiment an open ended through-going groove provided laterally in the body proper of the head is undercut in a dovetailed manner, and serves equally for adjustably mounting therein the stem as well as certain weight balance bodies, all having corresponding dove-tailed anchoring means adjustably fixable in the groove. A simple element or double eye justable with respect to the head and the stem in a manner to permit optional use of single and double articulation respectively between the head and the stem.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which with the foregoing will be set forth in the following description. In the following description and in the claims, parts will be identified by specific names for convenience, but they are intended to be as generic in their application to similar parts-as the art will permit. In the accompanying drawing there has been illustrated the best embodiment of the invention known to me, but such embodiment is to be regarded as typical only of many possible embodiments, and the invention is not to be limited thereto.

The novel features considered characteristic of my invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, bothas to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantagesthereof, will best be understood from the following description of a specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view showing the golf club, head and stem assembled;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detailed side view of the head and articulated connection for the stem;

Fig. 3 is a cross section along the line 8-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the head per se detached. I

Fig. 5 is an end view of the head provided with double articulation for the universal adjustment of the stem; and

Fig. 61s the detailed view of a double eye member interposable between the head and the stem, provided optionally for a single or double articulation respectively between head and stem.

The golf club shown in Fig. 1 has a head proper l0, and a stem H; and a connection It between head and stem, which comprises a socket member l3 into which is screwed the threaded portion it of the stem, secured by a lock nut l5.

From Figs. 2 and 3 it appears more clearly that the socket member l3 has an internally threaded socket portion l8, and a flat disclike portion II. The body Ill of the head is L-shaped in crosssection (see Fig. 3), having a horizontal shank portion l8 and a vertical or upstanding shank portion l9, both shank portions defining a recess 20 in the head.

The upstanding shank portion I! has an undercut or dove-tailed groove 21 into which slidably fits the correspondingly shaped head portion of a screw bolt 22 serving to fix the disclike portion l1 in adjusted position with respect to the 5 head "I, with the aid of nut and loci: nut 13 and From Figs. 5 and 6 it is clear that an additional insertable or interposable member 21 is provided in the way of a double eye member, which permits the single articulated connection of Figs. 1 and 3 to be readily converted into a double articulated quently, the interposable member 21 in Fig. 6 consists of two disc-shaped eye portions 28 and g5 29 which are marginally rigidly interconnected although disposed in, planes at right angles to one another. With the interposable member 21 in place and interconnecting the head and the stem, the device appears as shown in Fig. 5,

:0 showing an additional bolt and nut connection 30. The contacting surfaces in the respective articulated connections are suitably conditioned or roughened as at Illa to increase friction and to prevent slippage.

The angular adjustment of the stem with respect to the head in a single plane is indicated in Fig. 2 by way'of the angle of adjustment a. The additional adjustment of the stem in a further plane perpendicular to the first mentioned plane, by way of double articulation is shown in Fig. 5 and indicated by the angle I).

From Fig. 2 it should further be noted that the club designed according to this invention can have its head readily adjusted to render the club fit for use by either a right-handed or a lefthanded person. That is to say, the head can be thus adjusted for double use by simply adjusting the stem to either one of. two symmetrical angular positions with respect to the vertical. The weight balance bodies accordingly are then also to be placed in positions depending upon whether the stem of the club is adjusted for rightor lefthanded use. In this instance it is preferable to have the head proper designed in complete symmetry, rather than to have it bulkier at one end than at the other. Whatever the weight requirements in the respective portions of the head may be,thesecanbemetbytiieuseandproper adjustment of the weight balance bodies 25 which,

by virtue of the through-going groove 2 I, can be applied freely in any position on either or both sides of the point of connection between the head 6 and the stem'portion.

Referring to Fig. 4 it will be particularly noted that the head constitutes a suitable bodyof relatively simple manufacture into which the openended dove-tailed groove 21 can be milled in a simple manner. The horizontal shank portion l8 provides a sort of a shie1d'.for the parts that protrude laterally from the head, namely, the screw bolts 25a of the weight balance bodies 25 as well as the nut and lock nut 23 and 24 that fix 15 the articulated connection between the head and the stem.

I claim:

1. In a golf club in combination a stem portion, a head portion extending substantially transversely of the stem portion and having laterally and universally adjustable connection. Conse- ,-.disposed therein an undercut groove; and means for'fadjustably connecting said stem with said head portion;-c'omprising an articulated connection designed to be operable in a predetermined plane of angular movement and permitting relative angular .positioning of the head portion relative to said stem portion in said plane, and further comprising means for bodily adjusting said articulated connection by way of and along said undercut groove; and means for fixing the head portion when thus positioned, relative to the stem.

2. A golf cl according to claim 1, with the addition of a den le eye member having a pair of eye portions disposed substantially at right an-' gles to one another and adapted to adjustably in-. terconnect said head portion with said stem portion in a manner to permit said stem portion to be universally adjustable, namely, in two planes perpendicular to one another, with respect to said head portion, the one of said eye. portions constituting part of said articulated connection and disposed face to face with the adjacent side of the head, the other eye portion constituting part of an articulated connection between it and the stem.

3. A golf club according to claim 1 in which the articulated connection comprises a socket member having an internally threaded socket portion for connection therewith of said stem portion and having an eye portion whereby to eifect articulated connection of said socket member with one side of said head portion.

4. A golf club according to claim 1, in which the groove'is through-going from end to end of u the head.

' JOHN J. HOWARD. 

